Cotabato memories

In the news today: A homemade bomb exploded in front of Immaculate Conception Church killing five people and injuring more than 40 others.

Bombings in and around Cotabato City are almost no longer a big news. This one though caught national attention because it happened in front of a Catholic Church.

Across the Church is a Mc Donald's restaurant. A short distance away from Mc Do is Dr B's clinic. When I was still travelling to Cotabato, I frequented these places: Dr B's clinic, Mc Do and the church.

I get nostalgic when I hear news about this troubled place. There has been so many memories there -- happy and not so happy ones -- that I think help shaped the person I am today. I was assigned there for less than one year in 1998 and came back in 2008, that's a full ten years gap. The long, five to six hour drive to Cotabato has been precious contemplative, even productive, moments for me.